SACRAMENTO — Gregory Schmidt, a longtime secretary of the California Senate, has died just two years after retiring from the post he held for 18 years. He was 69.

“Greg lived an extraordinary life of public service that witnessed, shepherded and safeguarded 18 years of California legislative history at the helm of the California State Senate,” former Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, a Sacramento Democrat, said in a written statement.

The Sacramento Bee reported that Schmidt died after a brief battle with cancer.

He was first nominated to the post by then-Senate President Pro Tem Bill Lockyer in 1996 then re-appointed under three successive Senate presidents.

He was in charge of everything from processing bills to ensuring rules were followed.

Current Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, a Los Angeles Democrat, says Schmidt served as a steady, calming presence for elected members and staff, and he rarely got rattled.

“Greg was the highest-ranking staffer in the Senate but he was always humble. He never forgot that all of us were just regular people serving the people of California,” de Leon said in a written statement.

Schmidt retired in 2014 amid an investigation into reports of nepotism in the Senate’s hiring practices. Schmidt’s son, daughter-in-law and nephew all had jobs in the state Legislature, as did five family members of the Senate’s human resources director.

Schmidt’s post required discretion and dealing with politicians of both parties.

Lockyer, his former boss, told the Bee: “He was sensitive to politicians but I don’t think he admired very many of them.”

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